Violence, or even homicides, in the workplace are something we all hear about from time to time, but never really think it could happen to us. The violence is sometimes directed at an individual (such as an overbearing boss or abusive co-worker) but sometimes it seems random. As much as we’d all like to think otherwise,…
Tony Ferraro | December 1, 2013 | Safety | Workplace Safety
Everyone knows that when working directly with toxic chemicals or other hazardous materials, it is essential to wear proper respiratory protection. What most people don’t realize, however, is that in many different environments, this same type of protection is still a good idea. In many different work environments, there is often dust, vapors, mist, fumes,…
Tony Ferraro | November 27, 2013 | Safety | PPE, Workplace Safety
Hiring a safety consultant is an important task for any growing organization. Whether the position is being opened up because of specific safety concerns, or strictly as a preventative measure, it is important to take the time to make sure you’re hiring the right person for the job. While there are many things that need…
Tony Ferraro | November 25, 2013 | Safety | Workplace Safety
Several years ago, I was working as a project manager for a local manufacturing company. The owner asked me how much I knew about lean, and I told them I had about three years experience working on a lean transformation in upstate New York in which we had to completely change the factory climate from…
Tony Ferraro | November 17, 2013 | Lean | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing
I talked with a guy yesterday about 5S and how well it would work at his office. I asked him what the problem was, and he said, “Oh, you know, it’s messy and I want people to be tidier.” I didn’t laugh or anything, but I let him know that 5S, under the larger lean…
Tony Ferraro | November 3, 2013 | Lean | 5S, Facility Efficiency, Lean Manufacturing
Any organization doing business in the United States should be familiar with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, or OSHA. They are a branch of the US Department of Labor and are tasked with helping to ensure all working environments are safe and healthy for those working in them. They were established in 1970, and have…
Tony Ferraro | October 25, 2013 | Continuous Improvement | Continuous Improvement, Kaizen, OSHA, Regulations & Compliance
Projects are a big part of almost every type of business. Most organizations break up different types of work into projects to help ensure they get done in the most efficient and economical way possible. A project is a set of tasks that is interconnected and designed to help achieve a specific goal. Projects should…
Tony Ferraro | October 24, 2013 | Continuous Improvement | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency
The lean manufacturing philosophy centers around five guiding concepts which are used to drive the behaviors of an organization. These five principles can help people at all levels of a company to understand what it is they should be doing and how it should be done. Of course, these lean principles aren’t going to layout…
Tony Ferraro | October 23, 2013 | Lean Manufacturing | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Lean Manufacturing
The word Heijunka is often used in the manufacturing industry, and it means sequencing, or smoothing of production. The idea behind this term is to help absorb sudden fluctuations or changes in the demand of the market. This is often done by producing several different models of a product, in smaller production batches. In practice,…
Tony Ferraro | October 9, 2013 | Continuous Improvement, Lean Manufacturing | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Lean Manufacturing
For those in the manufacturing industry, changeover is a term which is used when talking about converting a particular machine, or a line from creating one product to another. The most well known example of this would be in the automotive industry where it is necessary to do a changeover when updating to a new…
Tony Ferraro | October 7, 2013 | Lean Manufacturing | Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing
